Slashdot videos: Now with more Slashdot!

View

Discuss

Share

We've improved Slashdot's video section; now you can view our video interviews, product close-ups and site visits with all the usual Slashdot options to comment, share, etc. No more walled garden! It's a work in progress -- we hope you'll check it out (Learn more about the recent updates).

New submitter rkhalloran writes "The remnants of the failed litigation engine that was the SCO Group has finally filed for liquidation under Chapter 7 of the bankruptcy code. 'There is no reasonable chance of "rehabilitation."' Groklaw describes the recent filing (PDF) thus: 'I will try my best to translate the legalese for you: the money is almost all gone, so it's not fun any more. SCO can't afford Chapter 11. We want to shut the costs down, because we'll never get paid. But it'd look stupid to admit the whole thing was ridiculous and SCO never had a chance to reorganize through its fantasy litigation hustle. Besides, Ralph Yarro and the other shareholders might sue. So they want the litigation to continue to swing in the breeze, just in case. But SCO has no money coming in and no other prospects, so they want to proceed in a cheaper way and shut this down in respects to everything else.' I guess that means the lawyers will suck the marrow from the carcass and leave the bones to bleach out in the sun."

Honestly, I think they have enough on their plate, trying to head off Andriod and iOS. More money into research and do some skull cracking of those departments who refuse to work together (read: support their employer, rather then empire building) and Microsoft could have a chance.. in a few years.

I am curious what SCO will do with its UNIXWare product portfolio. I would love it if Unixware source code would be made publicly available on a public domain license. There is no telling what exciting things will change in the current open source world.

They're making scandalous sums in royalties from Linux and Android. What do they care, now that the IP litigation is impossible? For Microsoft, this is Profit: stand up you PC and Phone Makers: On the left, is the $$ you'll pay for using Linux (so you won't get sued) and on the right is the $$ you'll pay for integrating that Android Stuff.

And if you think we were fooling, here's our RT tablet. Open the wallets or die! That's the mantra.

I had the pleasure of working for the Santa Cruz Operation. Say what you will about its flavor ("The McDonald's of UNIX" and the inexplicable "SCO OK" attempt to ape "Designed for Windows" branding, which was immediately renamed by techies to "WTF? Scook?!"), it was a fantastic place to cut my teeth.

The SCO Group can die in a fire, and should have done so years ago. The Santa Cruz Operation was a place where techies could tinker on stuff largely unimpeded by management, and I remember my days there findly.

I'm still trying to figure out what happened to Caldera. They used to have a their own Linux distribution and tried to make it user friendly with the Looking Glass Desktop. They even ported Sun's WABI to x86 Linux. Back in 1997, they were pretty much viewed as a Linux company. Groklaw did a nice piece about it: http://www.groklaw.net/articlebasic.php?story=20080807125817699 [groklaw.net]

This is VCs attempting to look good or to drag it out to the last gasp for the folks behind this deal (I would guess Microsoft, given the testimony from Benchmark Capital).

But I don't think they actually have anything salable no matter how hard they try. There are enough court findings about the provenance of this IP that any going back to that will just cause a motion for sanction under Rule 11, which is about frivolous and factually baseless proceedings.

Not really. Those in charge get to skate with their money. They're free to try it again with another company.

What they need in this case is piercing of the corporate veil. Those who started this, and cost other companies so many millions of dollars in this bad-faith fraud, need to be held personally accountable.